Owing to the small matter of the General Election in the UK, the SES EXPLORER AWARDS PRESENTATION EVENING at the Park Tower Hotel, London, has been CHANGED and will be held on TUESDAY 5TH MAY at 7pm!

The SES has embarked on its next great expedition, a global search for the world's Pioneers With Purpose; leaders and visionaries who are setting out to change the earth through extraordinary feats of ingenuity and scientific exploration.

THE SES EXPLORER AWARDS are a global search for outstanding ‘Pioneers with Purpose’.

Focusing on the rising stars of science and exploration, our vision is to support and encourage the next generation of scientific explorers to tackle the important issues of today, and be a part of the advancements that are essential to the environment, conservation and scientific challenges that we all face.

Applicants expeditions must be innovative and ground-breaking and contain elements of daring adventure alongside valuable research. They should be able to demonstrate how they as individuals are ‘pioneers with purpose’ and how the experience and knowledge that they gain from leading their expedition will help them further their career and inspire others along the way. Applicants must also demonstrate how the research undertaken during the expedition will leave a lasting legacy in the field in which it takes place.

SES EXPLORER AWARD SPONSORS

The SES are particularly grateful to the sponsors and supporters of the SES Explorer Awards who have shared our belief in this venture and without whom we would not have been able to come as far as we have. Awards amounting to £16,000 were presented in 2014, and the total currently available in 2015 is in excess of £25,000. We invite organisations and individuals who are interested in joining this essential search to take a look at this short presentation SES Awards for Exploration.pdf (2.31 MB) and to contact us.

SUPPORTED BY SOME OF THE GREAT NAMES OF CONTEMPORARY EXPLORATION

Col John Blashford-Snell, Honorary President, SES. - 'Exploration today is all about advancement; we aim to give people the opportunity to explore their particular areas of interest first hand, to discover what is happening and gain the knowledge and understanding to do something to help.'

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Honorary Vice President, SES - 'I have been delighted to follow progress, and to hear of the many inspiring young people who have applied for the SES Explorer Awards, showing that there are still many great opportunities for daring adventure and valuable scientific research to merge into great expeditions’.

Pen Hadow - 'Never has it been more urgent or important to understand better how the increasingly stressed natural world works, given that we entirely depend on it for our existence. The SES Explorer Awards recognise the significant role today's explorers can play in investigating and communicating the major social and environmental issues of our time.'

THE SES EXPLORER AWARDS 2015 - THE LIST

THE SES ZENITH EXPLORER AWARD 2015

An Award of £8,500, a Zenith El Primero 36 000VpH watch, and the exclusive right to become THE SES ZENITH EXPLORER 2015.

John Blashford-Snell has proudly worn a Zenith el Primero chronograph watch for over 40 years, proving the capabilities of the watch through the most testing of conditions. The SES were therefore delighted to welcome Zenith as their first sponsor of the SES Explorer Awards. Zenith has always been about ‘Entrepreneurial spirit’, in its ability to come up with new ideas, and be a world leader in their technical development. Zenith watches have been associated with some of the world’s greatest adventurers, Roald Amundsen, Mahatma Gandhi, Prince Albert I of Monaco, Louis Leriot, John F Kennedy and most recently Felix Baumgartner.

The SES and Zenith invite applications of the highest quality from those who can demonstrate the same Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to inspire other through their scientific research and daring adventure.

An Award of £7,000, and the exclusive right to become THE SES NEVILLE SHULMAN EXPLORER 2015.

Explorer, Mountaineer, Adventurer and Author Neville Shulman CBE is a long-time member and supporter of the SES, and we are delighted that he has included the Society amongst his many charitable interests. He is personal consultant and adviser to Ridley Scott, and with a wide and varied interest in film, culture (Vice president of the UNESCO Culture Committee) and travel.

Combining these interest, Neville has very kindly sponsored The SES Neville Shulman Film Award and will offer pre and post production mentoring if logistics allow. The Award is to support projects focusing on the intangible and/or tangible heritage in countries outside the UK/Eire. Within the application procedure, applicants must detail their plan for a film, at least 5 minutes in length, to be made post expedition and shown at the SES Explorer Awards presentation in 2016.

It is strongly recommended that those considering an application first contact us to discuss their expedition and eligibility. The closing date for applications is 31.12.14.

THE SES RIVERS FOUNDATION AWARD FOR HEALTH AND HUMANITIES 2015

An Award of £5,000, and the exclusive right to become THE SES RIVERS FOUNDATION EXPLORER 2015.

The Rivers Foundation has for many years provided support for children and young adults, both in the UK and internationally. It particularly focuses on the education, social development and medical well-being of young people. Alan Rivers, chairman of The Rivers Foundation is a long-time friend and supporter of John Blashford-Snell and the SES, and has generously donated money to purchase and school books to be distributed by John during his expeditions as well as medical equipment and supplies. The Rivers Foundation also has an interest in development of the arts, culture and music, and would love to hear about projects involving development of these areas within their expedition.

The Award is designed to support projects focusing on improving the lives of communities in deprived and under-developed regions of the world. It may be awarded to support expeditions with a health focus, or for anthropological projects including those with a cultural interest.

An Award of £3,000, and the exclusive right to become THE SES INSPIRATIONAL EXPLORER 2015.

The Trustees of the SES, together with Foundations, organisations and individuals wishing to make smaller contributions to the SES ‘Inspiration’ Explorer Award, currently a pool of £3,000. We are grateful to
• The Rowan Bentall Charitable Trust
• Sir Charles Blois
• The Trustees of the SES
for their generous contributions to this Award.

The SES and Sponsors of this award invite applications from the most inspirational of ‘Pioneers with Purpose’, those whose expedition has that special ‘something’ be it in terms of the nature of research, the legacy it offers, or any other aspects of the expedition.

It is strongly recommended that those considering an application first contact us to discuss their expedition and eligibility. The closing date for applications is 31.12.14.

THE SES CADOGAN TATE EXPLORER AWARD 2015

An Award of £2,000 and the exclusive right to become the ‘SES CADOGAN TATE EXPLORER 2015’.

Global removal company Cadogan Tate has been enormously helpful to the SES for many years, having moved stores to expedition equipment to destinations throughout the world. They have built a loyal following amongst individuals and organisations who expect the highest level of service and expertise.

The SES Cadogan Tate Explorer Award of £1,000 is designed to support expeditions focusing on the advancement of organic and natural practices, conservation, and preservation of our planet, life on the planet and its environment, and taking place within under-developed regions of the world.

Next Monday 16th March at the Park Tower Hotel, London at 7pm, following the SES AGM, SES Chairman Andrew Mitchell will talk to the SES about working on monitoring forests with the Amerindians of the Rupununi region of Guyana

The theme of The Frontline/SES's next panel based discussion on April 21st at The Frontline will be water - or the lack of it - given that Sao Paolo, one of the world's most populated cities, may run out of water in the coming months